APAA response to Regulation Consultation

The APAA welcomes the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) Consultation Response to the Regulation of Medical Associate Professionals in the UK, reaffirming the government’s intention to statutorily regulate Physicians’ Assistants (Anaesthesia) [PA(A)s].

We look forward to engaging with key stakeholders to commence scoping work, to determine which regulator is the most appropriate to regulate PA(A)s and PAs. In our consultation response we indicated that the GMC were the preferred regulator, however, further clarity from the regulators and the DHSC will allow us to come to a more informed conclusion.

It is clear from the summary of responses that the work undertaken by PA(A)s is of sufficient autonomy and high-risk interventions to make statutory regulation the appropriate level of assurance required.  This APAA have long advocated that PA(A)s should be statutorily regulated due to the nature of the work undertaken.

The APAA look forward to working with Health Education England and the Royal College of Anaesthetists to further embed the role in the NHS. We look forward to the introduction of a draft Bill in the near future so that PA(A)s can enhance the level of care provided as part of the anaesthetic team, in both increasing numbers and scope of practice.

We would encourage the DHSC to detail approximate timelines for the next steps in progressing towards statutory regulation.